The present invention relates to a method for reproducing the sound of an accordion electronically.
An acoustic accordion is a musical instrument provided with a bellow pumping air towards some valves, which are controlled by a number of corresponding keys/buttons divided into two keyboards (one being controlled by the right hand and the other one controlled by the left hand). Each valve and consequently each key/button is capable of sending the air that is pumped by the bellow to a series of corresponding reeds, which are all coupled with the same valve, belong to different footages and vibrate basically together to produce the note associated with that particular key/button. Moreover the acoustic accordion is provided with a series of registers capable of modifying the features of the sound produced by pressing keys/buttons because they can either let some reeds relating to some corresponding footages vibrate or prevent them from vibrating. Every single reed in an acoustic accordion commonly consists of a thin plate provided with a hole to let air coming from the corresponding valve flow through it, whereby such hole can be stopped by closing a small window that is controlled by a corresponding register.
Electronic accordions are available on the market, which are provided with a bellow coupled with a pressure sensor so as to generate a pressure signal that is proportional to the pressure of the air being pumped by the bellow; they are also provided with keyboards which are coupled with a number of sensors so as to generate a series of keyboard signals reproducing the pressure of keys/buttons; the pressure signal and the keyboard signals are transmitted to a sound module capable of generating the corresponding accordion sound electronically. The operation of the current sound modules is based on sampling and storing characteristic sounds being produced by individual keys/buttons; on pressing a key/button the sound module reproduces the characteristic sound of that key/button as long as such key/button is released.
By comparing the sound produced by an acoustic accordion with the sound produced by the state-of-the-art electronic accordions, it becomes clear that the quality level of the sound produced by electronic accordions is rather poor and it's not suited to professional or semi-professional performances.